The Liars
by Jaimie-Erin
Summary: Legolas and Aragorn go to investigate a town where Elven patrols are constantly going missing. What happens when they become the next targets?
1. Rancular

**The Liars**

By

**Jaimie-Erin**

**Summary**: Legolas and Aragorn go to investigate a town where Elven patrols are constantly going missing. What happens when they become the next targets?

**Disclaimer**: Check the publish & update dates. I'm obviously not Tolkien, and if I were, I'd be at the publisher's by now. All I own is a STUPID CRAPPY LAPTOP THAT BARELY LETS ME TYPE! If there are any missing letters, that is why, and I apologize sincerely.

X X X X

The rain poured down on the barren landscape as Aragorn and Legolas trudged through the mud to the tiny, barely lit town only a few hundred metres away. They had been walking through the rain for several hours, the last of which had also been in the dark, and tempers were running high.

"Finally," muttered Aragorn as he pulled his foot out of the mud yet again, only to replace it about a metre in front of where he had taken it out of the ground originally. "You know, we could have been there earlier, if a stupid foliage-obsessed elf hadn't decided to climb a tree that was miles out of our way!"

"You would have climbed it too, if you were an elf," retorted Legolas, a few strides in front of the grumbling ranger. "It was the first tree for days. Imagine if you were confronted with… There you go. I can't think of anything filthy humans love so desperately. Edain are so primitive, they are incapable of feeling love for anything on the beautiful love-filled world!"

A handful of mud struck him squarely in the back of his head. He turned to see that Aragorn had stopped and was standing there, his chest heaving with emotion. He looked extremely angry.

"Take it back!" he growled.

Legolas stared at him, suddenly remembering Arwen. He felt very ashamed.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I didn't mean what I said. I take it back completely."

Aragorn's face softened as he regarded his friend. "It's all right," he said. "I'm sorry I got angry at you. I know how much you like trees. And it was the first one in forever-long." He lifted his feet out of the mud once more and squelched over to his best friend. "Forgive me?"

"Of course!" laughed Legolas. "I have to admit, I do see how my little 'tree obsession', as you so kindly call it, is to make fun of. Let's just focus on getting to the town from now on, shall we?"

Aragorn nodded, smiling. He was not irritated any more by the rain and mud, he was glad simply to be on good terms with his best friend once more.

As they entered the town, they were immediately struck by how silent it was. Nobody moved, and it seemed like no building breathed with life within. Aragorn quickly spotted a pub and dragged Legolas inside.

_So, this is where the town is_, thought Legolas as Aragorn pulled him over to the bar. The pub was packed with drunk strangers, mostly overweight, laughing raucously and spilling drinks. Legolas and Aragorn took seats at the bar. The overweight bartender placed two full mugs in front of them without being asked and then held out his hand for payment. Aragorn fished around inside his cloak for some money, and gave the man a couple of coins.

"So, who are we looking for?" Legolas mused as Aragorn took a small sip and gagged.

"That's horrible!" Aragorn cried between coughs. "I don't even know if it is ale!"

A stranger sat down on the other side of Legolas and received his own mug of "ale". He did not look like the others in the bar: he was thin, for one thing, but he had the hood of his black cloak drawn up, hiding his features. Even so, he seemed to Legolas to emanate intelligence, and he decided to talk to the man.

"Are you Rancular?"

The man turned to the elf. "Yes," he said. His voice was deep and powerful. "Are you another elven patrol sent to protect us?"

"Not exactly," said Legolas. "My companion and I are investigating the disappearance of these patrols." He indicated Aragorn, who had by now caught on to the conversation and had forgotten the predicament of his disgusting ale. "Can you tell us anything?"

"Perhaps." Rancular drained the entire mug before him and sighed in a satisfied way. Aragorn's jaw dropped. "Were those patrols friends of yours?"

"I'm a personal scout to the king of Mirkwood," Legolas said, not willing to reveal his true identity to this man. "He asked me to investigate why all his soldiers kept disappearing. If they have been killed by your people, I assure you he will not be happy."

The man let out a short, rough laugh. "They haven't been killed. They've been sent."

"Sent?" asked Aragorn. "Sent where?"

"Not sent anywhere by anyone I know, so you can stop looking at me like that," Rancular snapped at Aragorn. "They listened too hard. They have been lied to."

Legolas was beginning to wonder why his father had told them to find this man. They could not get a straight answer out of him. "Lied to by who?"

"The Liars," said Rancular. "Don't ask me anymore, I don't know anything past here. Just that they only disappeared right after they left here, not when they were actually in the town."

Throughout the entire conversation, Rancular had not removed his hood from around his face. Aragorn noticed this fact and thought it odd. He planned to discuss it with Legolas later.

They hired a room for the night with the intent of getting warm and dry for the beginnings of their search in the morning. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. The roof leaked a little over the table, so they had to put their belongings on the floor, which was dirty. It was not going to be a pleasant night.

"Ah, well," Aragorn muttered as he viewed his surroundings. "I've had worse."

"Speak for yourself!" moaned Legolas. "I've never seen anything this horrible in my life!"

"Yes, but that's only because you find joy in staying out in the open, whereas I detest it. We've had much the same experiences, Legolas, it's just out attitudes that differentiate them."

Legolas smiled: his friend was subtly trying to tell him to get a better attitude. Not likely.

X X X X

Several hours later, his attitude was as sour as ever. He could not sleep. Aragorn's snores were keeping him awake, as was the constant _drip, drip _of the water falling from the shabby roof. But what was keeping him awake most was worry.

He had not told Aragorn yet, but the tree he had climbed earlier had been completely silent. That did not sit well with the wood elf, who was used to the chattering of the forest every morning without fail. He was worried about the tree, about the man they had spoken too earlier, and about what would happen come morning. They had no leads to go on. None! This was an impossible task that his father had set him, of that he felt sure.

Suddenly, he heard a voice. It was not a human voice, but it sounded like it was coming from the window. Legolas went over and slid the catch, opening the window.

His first suspicions had proved accurate: the voice was not human. It seemed to be coming from a tree that was positioned a few feet in front of the window. Legolas stood there for a while, losing himself in the song of the tree. It was only Aragorn's snuffle of displeasure at being sprayed with rain that made Legolas shut the window and head back to bed.

He got to sleep a few minutes later, his head still swimming with the song of the tree.

X X X X

**A/N**: So, what do you think? Worth continuing? Drop me a review and tell me your thoughts. BTW, there will be more action, I promise. This just set the scene for what's to come.


	2. Out of Gintrea

**A/N**: Thank you for the wonderful reviews. They made a bad day good :)

Also, I was just thinking that I should point out that if this is going to be book or movie verse, it would probably end up being movie verse with some book elements. Not that it would matter that much, since it is pre-LOTR.

X X X X

Aragorn woke up next morning to see a smirking wood elf perched on the wood at the end of his bed, fully dressed and bow in hand. He groaned. This was going to e one of those days.

"Good afternoon!" said Legolas brightly.

Aragorn sat up fast, panicking slightly. "What do you mean, afternoon?"

"Well, you see, some people are awake before midday. We call that morning, and whatever is after midday is afternoon."

"It's _after midday_?"

"Yes. But don't worry, the tree says there's no hurry."

"Tree?" Aragorn asked. He got up and walked over to the window. A great oak tree was planted right outside the window, in what looked like the village square. "Well, what do you know?" he muttered. "So, how long have you been up?"

"Since sunrise," said Legolas, finished with his teasing. He bent down and began to pack Aragorn's bag for him.

The ranger paused in pulling on his still slightly damp clothes. "You mean you've been sitting at the end of my bed for, what, eight hours?"

"Yes," said Legolas, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. "To be honest with you, I wanted to sit there because there was a very nice sunbeam there this morning, and I really wanted some dry clothes."

"I hope you got them," muttered Aragorn darkly. His own clothes didn't feel much better than they had last night.

"Oh, I did!" said the elf happily, smirking at the man's attempts to dry his cloak in the window. "You do realize that the sun has now moved? No sunbeam anymore."

Aragorn glared at him but abandoned his efforts. He moved over to his bags and pulled out a map from where Legolas had very carefully packed it. The elf grimaced.

"So, the village is here" – he pointed out a tiny dot on the map a couple of hundred miles east of Mirkwood – "and that man, whatever his name was, said that the patrols vanished when they _left _Gintrea. Where do the patrols go from here?"

"They continue east," said Legolas. "Not for too much further, though. The only reason my father sends them any further out from here is to make sure the people are kept safe from anyone who may be over there."

"Does your father really have the soldiers to do this?"

"Not really," admitted Legolas slowly. "The mayor of the town did something for my father a few hundred years ago, probably nearing on a thousand, actually, and he still feels the need to protect them. They don't have any soldiers of their own."

"I saw that last night," Aragorn said. "I think your father needs to realize that they have to train their own men. He can't afford these troops anymore, not with the advancement of the Shadow –" He stopped himself; at the mention of the Shadow, Legolas had stiffened visibly. Aragorn mentally berated himself, he knew how much Legolas despised what the Shadow was doing to his home. He'd feel the same way if it were Imladris. "So, we should continue east, I think," Aragorn finished lamely.

Legolas nodded. "We can pick up a couple of horses somewhere, perhaps," he mused. "I mean, I don't want your filthy human feet getting stuck in the mud and slowing us down."

"Good idea," said Aragorn. Secretly, he was relieved, he knew he would only slow them down if the mud to the west of the city was anything like the mud to the east. "Shall we go, then?"

X X X X

The two friends found two old horses that would – hopefully – carry them a far distance. One was jet black all over and the other was a stormy gray. They bought them from an old man who obviously needed the money.

"I think that when I get back I'll tell my father to get these people jobs rather than sending out troops that they don't really need," said Legolas to Aragorn quietly as he mounted the gray. He was a little superstitious about the black horse from experiences with the horses that the Nazgul rode.

Aragorn completely understood his friend's unease, though Legolas never voiced it, and took the black without complaint. It seemed to be a fine horse, very strong and very patient. He nodded in agreement with what Legolas had said. "I wonder if there are people living out there," he said, looking east.

"There must be," answered Legolas. "It's _liars _we're looking for. Who can lie other than people? We'll just have to be on our guard."

"But what if it's someone in the town that's lying?" said Aragorn reasonably. "What if they lied to us, and then we'll only realize once we get out there, and by then it will be too late?"

"Like I said, we'll just have to be on our guard," said Legolas, starting forward. Aragorn followed him, still slightly worried.

They continued east for the rest of the day, but the land seemed to be as devoid of life as the west of the city, though on this side there were lots of trees. Aragorn was secretly pleased; he wouldn't have been happy if they were forced to take another huge detour because of Legolas's tree obsession.

Finally, ten minutes after sundown and with no more leads, the companions decided to stop for the night. They found a spot with several tall trees that spread their boughs across the clearing, shielding those on the ground from wind and rain.

Aragorn started a campfire and Legolas shot an unlucky rabbit that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. They speculated on who or what a Liar could be over a delicious meal prepared by Aragorn. They had lembas bread in their bags, but they preferred to keep that for emergencies.

At last, with Legolas' suggestion of a Liar being his father for saying there was anything wrong out here at all, they decided they were getting nowhere. Aragorn lay down where he was next to the fire and Legolas rolled over to lie next to a tree, and within minutes they were both fast asleep.

X X X X

Aragorn was woken in the middle of the night by a scuffling in the bushes. Rolling over silently, he drew his knife, hoping desperately that whatever making the noise was nothing more than a bird. He looked over at Legolas to make sure he was safe, and saw the archer asleep.

That confused him. If the scuffling in the bushes had been loud enough to wake him, surely it should have woken a sharp-eared elf?

But there was no time to think about that now. The scuffling was growing louder and nearer. Aragorn held his knife steadily, pointed directly at the bushes.

A figure appeared. It looked tall, though he walked slightly stooped, and he was limping. Aragorn wasn't taking any chances.

"Don't move!" he cried. "I'm armed!"

The figure stopped and raised his hands slightly. He was breathing very noisily, more of a wheeze than a breath.

Aragorn studied his face closely. He could not see any distinctive features; the firelight had dimmed down substantially overnight. "Come closer – slowly!"

Legolas made a noise of displeasure at being woken. He looked up to see Aragorn crouched on the ground with a knife pointed at one of his father's captains.

"Estel, no!" he cried. He stood up quickly and went to help the elf.

Aragorn was shocked when Legolas helped the figure, but was more shocked when he came into the slowly dwindling light and he saw his face.

"Imrathon!" he cried.

Imrathon had been working for Thranduil for most of his life, and for Oropher before him. He had fought in the Last Alliance, and was a highly skilled and highly respected soldier. Now, however, he looked deathly pale, and he collapsed into Legolas's arms before they reached the fire.

Legolas helped him lie on the ground and pulled some lembas out of his pocket to give him. Imrathon accepted gratefully.

"I wondered where you had been," Legolas said quietly. "You haven't been in any of the patrols recently… this is why."

"Yes," the old elf said quietly. "I was sent here to help four months ago. But what on Arda are _you _doing here, Prince Legolas? You have to go!"

Aragorn raised his eyebrows slightly. Well, it was lovely to know the elves of Mirkwood cared so much about his safety…

"My father sent Estel and I to see what was happening here," said Legolas. "Why nobody's been returning."

"But why did he send the prince?" Imrathon pressed.

This irked Legolas a little. Imrathon had always been a little protective of him because of his lineage. "I am a warrior of the realm, Imrathon," he said. "I just happened to be the best man for the job."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Aragorn asked as he fished around in his pack for his healing supplies. "What made you like this?"

Imrathon's face seemed to fall. He seemed very upset at something. "I was betrayed," he whispered. Then, his eyes fixed, unfocussed, on a spot above Legolas's head.

"Captain Imrathon?" Legolas whispered, hoping that he had only fallen asleep. "Captain?"

The elf remained unmoving.

Aragorn looked up from his pack and saw what had happened. "No!" he cried. He searched desperately for a pulse.

Legolas could tell by the ranger's expression that his father's best captain was dead.

**A/N**: Hm, the plot thickens…

Drop me a review and let me know what you thought. It really does mean a lot to me, especially since I've had a really bad day today… but you don't want to hear about that. Au revoir!


	3. Missing Friend

**A/N**: Well, I didn't die (barely). I've been really sick ever since school camp (which was awful). I collapsed on the second night and the teachers said I was faking. Might be suing the school now. Lovely. Still sick, just my brain now works enough for me to write. So, on with writing!

Thanks so much for the reviews. They made a poor sick girl smile.

X X X X

"How could this happen?" Legolas cried. "Why didn't I know?"

"How could you have known?" Aragorn said reasonably. He was not going to allow his best friend to beat himself up. "You're not psychic, Legolas."

"No," said Legolas forcefully. He was fiddling compulsively with his hair. "But I _am _a wood elf. I should have been listening to the trees harder, I should have known one of my friends – one of my _kin _– was dying!"

Aragorn sat on the ground with his back to a tree, watching Legolas pace restlessly back and forth with an expression of sadness on the ranger's face. They had buried Imrathon under a tall oak tree about fifty metres away. Legolas had been silent the entire time, and Aragorn was sure the elf was blaming himself for a death that was not his fault.

After the small funeral Legolas had become angry at everything – the trees, Aragorn, the food, Aragorn, his father, Aragorn, Imrathon and Aragorn. But most of all, he blamed himself. He would not admit it, but to Aragorn, who had known the elf ever since he was a small child, it was painfully obvious.

"Stop blaming yourself, Legolas," Aragorn muttered. He was exhausted. The emotional strain of the day had begun to wear heavily on him.

"I'm not blaming myself!" cried Legolas as he stopped pacing again and faced Aragorn. "I'm… seeing what I could possibly do if it were to happen again."

Aragorn scoffed. "Creative, Legolas. Nice pause there. Really gives your claim a leg to stand on."

Legolas glared at him and sat down.

"Get some sleep," said Aragorn gently.

Legolas turned around wordlessly and lay down on his side facing away from Aragorn. Aragorn sighed and looked up to the stars shining through the treetops above. He hoped Legolas would feel better about himself in the morning. He hated it when his best friend started blaming himself for things that were not his fault.

Sighing again, Aragorn decided that he should probably get some sleep too. He would need it if they were to discover whatever had killed Imrathon, and possibly scores of other elves.

X X X X

Aragorn woke up the next morning just as the sky was beginning to lighten. He pulled his cloak closer around himself. _Just a few more minutes_…

When he couldn't get back to sleep, he decided to get up and start making breakfast. He could not be sure if Legolas was already up, but with the elf in his current mood, Aragorn was sure he wouldn't be cooking.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Dew covered the leaves of the trees and the grass around him. It was a beautiful dawn. He could hear squirrels and birds on the branches above him getting ready to start a new day.

Aragorn stood up and turned to the pile of ash which, last night, had been their fire. He looked up to see if Legolas was still asleep and did a double take.

Legolas was not there. Used to the constant efforts of his friend to scare him with his ability to jump out of nowhere without a sound, Aragorn immediately looked above him and tried to spot the elf amongst the squirrels he would get along so well with. He was not there either.

Aragorn began to get worried then. The forest was clearly not safe: Imrathon had proved that. With his friend so deeply entrenched in guilt, Aragorn was not going to take any chances. Legolas could be ambushed by anything, and would be so absorbed in his own feelings that he wouldn't realize until well after it happened.

On the other hand, he may have just gone to find some food or water, or he could be up in the trees, and just didn't want Aragorn to spot him. Wood elves could hide so well…

Aragorn decided that he wouldn't jump to conclusions about his friend. He would wait one hour, and if the elf was not back by then, he would go looking.

He settled down and nibbled on some lembas for breakfast. He didn't feel like cooking, and lembas was quite adequate, unless you lived on it for several days with no other form of nutrition.

He thought about Imrathon. It was terrible that he had died, especially since he was one of the Firstborn, but Aragorn had only ever met him once in his life, and he wasn't going to get ridiculously emotional over his death like Legolas. Imrathon had given them some important information, and Aragorn planned to analyze it.

_He had been betrayed_, he mused. _But by what? _An elf that had been with him, unlikely, but possible. A resident in Gintrea, very likely. Someone out here in the wilderness, almost definitely, if there was anyone out here in the wilderness. He doubted it was anyone in the town, as, unless the elves did not know of the betrayal until much later, they would not have moved off so rashly into the wilderness. Aragorn resolved to keep an eye out for smoke or a sign of another campsite.

An hour came and went. Aragorn began to get very concerned. He stood up and looked up to the trees. "Legolas?" he called. No answer.

He grimaced. He hoped Legolas was not in any sort of trouble. He began shoving items into his and Legolas's packs. He all but groaned at the thought that he would have to carry both. Stupid, infuriating, _prissy _elf.

He finished packing and realized that there was no way known he would be able to carry both packs. He looked around for a likely hiding spot and, finding one, stuffed Legolas's pack into a small depression in the earth in between two bushes. He shouldered his pack, looked up to the trees once more, then turned and walked out of the campsite.

He followed a relatively straight path through the trees. He went this way because it was really the only way Legolas could have gone without waking Aragorn, but he could see no clues apart from that. Not a single one!

Aragorn walked for about two hours, his trepidation growing with every step. He could still see nothing, and he was likely following a path that lead in the opposite direction to the one Legolas had taken. He became very frustrated, and realized that their was obviously nobody here. He shouted Legolas's name at the top of his lungs in the vain hope the elf might answer.

He continued shouting, but no answer was forthcoming, no smiling, joyful, safe wood elf walked out from between the trees, laughing at his friend's panic. Aragorn would give anything to hear that laughter again.

He sat down on the ground and felt hot tears of frustration and loss form in his eyes. He had no idea where Legolas was, and the fact that there was no life form that Aragorn had come across didn't settle him: Legolas could have walked a different way and ran into who or whatever had betrayed Imrathon, or whatever he was betrayed to. Aragorn didn't even have a clue as to what it could have possibly been. He felt useless, hopeless…

He stood up. He could not give in to despair. Valar, how many times had things seemed hopeless only to work out for the better? He couldn't count. And this would be one of those times. He swore it to himself. He could feel sorry for himself later. Now, he had to find, or maybe, Valar forbid, save, his best friend.

X X X X

**A/N**: Hm, any guesses as to what happened to Legolas?

I'm sorry there wasn't much action in this chapter. There should be more next.

OK, I just took a government test (die) on English and maths. I failed maths and got band 10 (highest) for English, but the govt said that in my story writing I failed in "correct/varied cohesive devices", "all applicable punctuation correct" and "correct/effective/varied sentences", so I would really appreciate it if in reviews, you would tell me if I fail in any of those areas. Also, setting description. I'm working really hard on my setting description, so some feedback would be great.

On the good side, I got in the top three per cent in the country for writing. Yay me! Sorry, I love gloating.

Thanks heaps to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.


	4. To Find an Elf

**A/N**: Thanks so much to all the reviews and to everyone who added me or this story to their alerts lists. It really means a lot.

Now for what you'll be much more interested in: my pathetic excuses for not getting this up. First it was just a homework overload, but then on the day I was planning to get this up my sister TRIPPED (that's so Nadia – ps why the hell does she get a semi normal name when I'm stuck with Jaimie-Erin? Geez, my parents can't even spell Jamie. Sorry. A little self conscious at the moment. I only just got through a phase of being ultra depressed about my name and changing it. My email still says my little alias. Gotta change that.) in PE and tore a muscle. She went to hospital and was in there all night, so I was too. Didn't even get to see her – spent all night watching Pirates of the Caribbean on the hospital TVs. Friday gone. Saturday, not only did I have a major history assignment due, but my mum got really sick and I had to do all her housework because my older sister was at work, younger busted her leg and my dad's ruined his shoulder. Saturday gone. Sunday was basically the same, then on Monday I got both a geography assignment and a large play for drama (I was main character and had to learn all those lines) both of which were due today. WTF? No time much! Then I get home and have to clean up Nadia's lunch mess because she can't be stuffed to go to school and she gets nice lunches and doesn't clean up. Freaking pissed off. And I'm procrastinating from part 2 of geography assignment now, so appreciate this. Got no sleep so anything I write is going to end crappy anyway.

X X X X

Legolas flew through the trees with a speed born of fear. Aragorn was chasing him, he knew it, though he had left the human behind a long time ago. But no time could be lost. Legolas leapt off the branch he was standing on to another one and kept going.

He couldn't believe Aragorn had betrayed him.

X X X X

Aragorn stopped panicking and started thinking logically. Legolas was a wood elf, and if he was trying to get some time alone to cope with the loss of Imrathon or he just – Aragorn swallowed nervously – didn't want to be around him, he would take to the trees. If he had not climbed a tree, well, Aragorn could find nothing on the ground, so he would just have to hope that the trees was where Legolas had gone.

His mind made up, Aragorn began to walk back to the place where he and Legolas had spent the last couple of nights. He was not worried about getting lost, he never did, but he was worried about the travel time and how much further away Legolas could be by the time Aragorn began his treetop search. But, as Aragorn knew, he would lose even more time by starting his search here and missing an important clue. No, it was far better if he went back to the campsite.

He walked for another few hours, occasionally breaking out into random runs in the hope of getting to his destination faster. When he got there, he saw the remains of their campfire and thought he detected something strange about the bush he had hidden Legolas's pack in. To an outsider who was not an elf or ranger, it would look perfectly normal. He had hidden it well.

He went up to a tall tree with many easy-to-climb branches and hoisted himself easily into the top of the tree. Aragorn looked all around him carefully, and noticed that the leaves leading towards the east were slightly flattened. Aragorn couldn't help but think to himself how stupid Legolas was to flee east. Eventually the trees would thin out, and there would be nothing to shelter him and no civilization. All the same, if the elf had gone this way, the ranger would not be far behind.

X X X X

Near exhaustion, Legolas finally decided to stop. He climbed down a few branches and landed lightly on the ground. It was only then that he realized how stupid he had been, fleeing east. There was not as much food out here, he could tell that from the lack of animal activity within earshot, and judging by the dryness of the leaves, it did not rain much here. He also realized he had left his pack back with Aragorn. He groaned.

He had no food, no map, no cloak, and barely any water. On top of that, he was exhausted, but too scared to sleep with no watch. He didn't know why, but he had a slightly nagging feeling in the back of his head that this part of the forest was far more hostile than the forest further west. He backed up against the tree, so he would not be surprised by any sneak attacks, and sat down on the roots.

The tree calmed his nerves and relaxed his mind. The longer he sat there, the longer he felt that there was nothing to fear from this place. Of course there wasn't! Hadn't he just thought a few minutes ago that he could hear nothing, nor see, nor smell? He must be more exhausted than he thought.

That was his last conscious thought. He lay down where he was, forgetting all his troubles, and went to sleep, eyes firmly shut.

X X X X

**A/N**: I am so desperately sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I really need to get onto my assignment, though. You certainly won't be hearing anymore from me until the holidays (which are on Saturday – yay!). I've been uploading old English assignments to FictionPress, and I'll continue doing that, but no more writing until Saturday (at least).

PS I'm sure this chapter was riddled with mistakes because I'm so tired. Oh well, can't be stuffed to fix them. But for future enjoyment of my stories, would anyone like to offer to be my beta? smiles


	5. To Kill a Ranger

**A/N**: The only excuse I have for a mildly late update is that I COMPLETELY forgot about the AFL Grand Final! So when I had planned to write this, I was actually sitting in front of the TV and stuffing my face just like any other self respecting Aussie. (JOKES! I got that from the radio. Though I was stuffing my face. And they wonder how we became the fattest nation on earth.) You may ask why I'm so fired up. Because, against all odds, HAWTHORN WON! SMASHED GEELONG! YEAH! Sorry. Hawthorn's my team, and we haven't won the final since, what, 1989? And Geelong won something like 44 of the 46 games they played this season… I am stoked.

Sorry. On with the story.

PS. Thank you so much to everyone who has ever read this, especially those who are continuing to read, and ESPECIALLY those who have left reviews. I really love them! Keep writing them! I'm writing you a whole story, just write me a short sentence of what you think! You have to admit, it's a good argument.

**SEMI IMPORTANT PLEASE READ**: As I am lazy and lack any mathematical skills, the time it takes for Aragorn to track Legolas (and the time it takes for any journeys on this story) will be stupidly and horrifically wrong by at least several hours. I don't know how big this forest I made up is, I barely know where it is, and I do not know the size or travel times of anywhere in Middle earth. Frankly, I'm more interested in the AWESOME story that is Lord of the Rings than travel time and maths. Nothing is my fault.

X X X X

Aragorn did not know how long he tracked the elf through the treetops, only that the sun had been gone several hours when the trail stopped abruptly.

He turned around slowly, wondering if Legolas had made a quick direction change. He paid utmost attention to every small detail, but could not find anything.

Nearing exhaustion and despair, Aragorn leaned against the tree trunk and brought a hand to his forehead. It was by now obvious that nothing had dragged Legolas off. His friend had left him of his own free will. Aragorn understood that the death of a friend could do strange things to an immortal, but Legolas had lost friends before, friends that were closer to him than Imrathon, and had allowed Aragorn to comfort him after a few hours' sulking in solitude. This time, he was being completely ridiculous. Aragorn tried to think of something he may have done to upset the elf, but could come up with nothing.

He slowly let his hand fall and found himself staring at the ground. The moon barely penetrated the treetops, and he could not see much. When he looked up slightly, however, something caught in the corner of his eye, and he looked back down.

His sight had not lied: a faint, barely perceptible flash of gold was visible at the base of the trunk.

Intrigued, Aragorn climbed slowly and carefully down to the ground. As he was halfway through making his final jump to the leafy forest floor, he suddenly recognized the flash of gold as hair.

Legolas.

Aragorn changed his direction mid-jump and landed poorly, his legs buckling as he crashed to the ground. He stood up and turned around to face Legolas.

The elf was lying on his stomach with his face slightly turned towards the tree trunk and one hand resting on its bark. Aragorn could not tell from this angle if his eyes were shut, but he strongly suspected they were. He had never seen Legolas, or any other elf for that matter, sleep on his stomach. In fact, from the angle Legolas was lying on, it looked as if he had fallen out of the tree.

Aragorn discarded this idea almost as soon as it entered his head. Legolas was a wood elf. They did not simply fall out of trees.

All the same, he reached out with a tentative hand and, after a moment's hesitation caused by fear of what he may find, brushed his friend's blonde hair away from his face.

It was too dark to see if Legolas's eyes were closed at the angle he was lying on. Aragorn reached over and made to roll him onto his back, but a hand reached up and gripped his arm with alarming strength.

Legolas rolled over of his own accord and stared at Aragorn, who, despite having just had the shock of his life, was relieved beyond measure to find that the elf was all right.

Nothing could have prepared Aragorn for what Legolas did next.

A fist sank into the man's stomach. Caught by surprise, Aragorn doubled over, completely winded. It was all the time Legolas needed.

He stood up with alarming speed and drew both his knives, pointing them at Aragorn. "Why?" he asked.

Aragorn finally managed to draw a shuddering breath. He choked and gasped for a few seconds, but then answered his friend's question. "Why what?"

Legolas's eyes flashed. "Why what, he asks. Why did you kill Imrathon? Why did you betray me? Why are you playing dumb?"

Aragorn stared at him. He was still on the ground; he did not want Legolas to think he was threatening him. "I didn't betray you," he said weakly. "Who told you that?"

"Ha!" said Legolas. Aragorn was beginning to become very frightened of the elf. "That is always the question asked by the stupid edain. They never look beyond their own sources, only searching for knowledge that comes from them. But we, we, the superior race, gather knowledge from more than one source. You collect it from one, it becomes weak. You listen to yourselves, and no one else. We listen to Nature."

"The trees?" Aragorn questioned sharply. "The _trees _told you?"

A cruel, twisted smile played at the corners of Legolas's mouth. "Finally looking beyond your own nose."

Aragorn stood up and began to back away from Legolas. He couldn't believe it. Legolas had to have gone mad. There was no other explanation! The trees were not touched by the Shadow, Legolas would have sensed it the second he walked into the forest. Even Aragorn did not have much trouble sensing the Shadow, so evil was it.

Aragorn heard a knife whistling through the air and ducked just in time. He turned around to see one of Legolas's knives embedded in the tree behind him, just where his head had been moments before.

Legolas swung forward and Aragorn dodged quickly. "I'm not going to fight you!" he cried.

It was true. He could not bring himself to hurt his best friend. But it didn't look like he would have much of a choice. Legolas slowly became more aggressive, and Aragorn was beginning to get cut from either slamming into the trees to dodge Legolas, or from the elf's knives. He realized suddenly that, while his energy was deteriorating, the elf's seemed to be growing. How was that possible? Aragorn didn't know, and, for the moment, didn't really care.

He did a somersault along the leaf strewn forest floor to avoid a particularly vicious attempt on his life. It really was getting harder and harder to avoid Legolas. He decided to try a different tactic.

He drew his sword with a sharp ringing sound and spun around to face Legolas, who halted suddenly, as though stung.

"Don't come any closer," Aragorn said threateningly. How could he say this to his brother in arms? He wanted to collapse on the ground and sob, but he knew that would only mean his death.

Legolas glared at him for a few moments. Then, with a loud cry, he lunged forward. Aragorn, taken by surprise, dodged a second too late and felt the knife cut deep into his arm.

Hot blood poured out of the wound, but Aragorn ignored it. He had to: Legolas was aiming for his chest again. Aragorn diverted this blow with his sword, half his energy spent on diverting the blow, half on keeping his sword from cutting Legolas.

The elf cried out in rage when Aragorn dared to raise his sword against him, even in self-defense. Why wouldn't he just die and leave him alone?

Legolas did not realize the dangerous path his thoughts were treading. He was focused on one thing: taking the ranger's life.

He attacked again, this time aiming for the legs. Aragorn dodged. Legolas did not understand this; how could a simple edan dodge so many of his blows? Why couldn't Legolas win?

Aragorn sensed the elf's growing desperation, and desperation was lending him strength. Aragorn knew he could not keep this up any longer, but he also knew he could not try and take his best friend's life.

As Legolas tried to cut his throat, Aragorn latched onto the only hope he had left. He reached up with his left hand and grabbed Legolas's wrist, stopping the knife in its tracks. With his right hand he brought the hilt of his sword crashing down on Legolas's head.

The second before the elf collapsed, Aragorn thought he saw something in the elf's eyes – was it apology? – but then his eyes closed, and he fell into Aragorn's arms.

Aragorn gently laid his friend down on the ground. He picked up Legolas's fallen knife and retrieved the other from the tree and placed them in his own belt before taking Legolas's bow and quiver and slinging them over his own back. He took the hidden knife from his friend's boot; he did not trust Legolas with weapons anymore.

Then, he sat down next to the unconscious elf and cried.

X X X X

**A/N**: Longer and more action packed chapter there, lucky you guys!

I put a quote from a TV show in there somewhere, anyone who can guess it gets free cookies.

I know Legolas was VERY OOC there but there is a reason for that. This isn't an OOC fic (not really, anyway).

Since that was a longer chapter that I put a lot of effort into, would you please please please review? Please? Remember our deal, I write you a (very long) story, you tell me what you think.

GO THE HAWKS!


	6. Discussions

**A/N**: As promised, another update!

As any of you who have reviewed (love you guys!) would know because I complained about it in review responses, FFN decided to stop emailing me anything: review alerts, story alerts, PMs, etc, so I couldn't use the review reply feature and had to PM the users and read the reviews on the actual story. Now I'm out of date with all these fics I've been reading, so if anyone knows what the hell is going on or is suffering the same fate, review me. I'm not exactly sure if it's my email or the website.

Nobody guessed the quote (hehe). It was from _Avatar: The Last Airbender_, and it was used when Legolas was talking about the fact that humans draw knowledge from one source and so it becomes weak. Anyone who watches the show, that was where Iroh was teaching Zuko advanced firebending. I admit I cheated a little, as it was not a DIRECT quote, it was the teensiest bit off because I hadn't seen the episode for ages, so, sorry.

Enough rambling. On with the story.

X X X X

Aragorn sat with his back against one of the trees that had, by extension, tried to kill him. He reached over and placed another log on the slowly dying fire, pulling his cloak closer to him for more warmth.

Legolas lay opposite him, still unconscious. Aragorn had carried him westward through the dense forest for about two hours before blood loss from the wound on his arm began to deplete his strength and he was forced to stop for the night.

But it would not be a restful stop, oh no. Aragorn was not stupid enough to fall asleep, not after Legolas had tried to kill him. He loved the elf like a brother, sometimes more, but he was a ranger, and was not going to forfeit his life by sleeping when a known potential threat could wake up, take a blade from him and slit his throat in under a minute. The only way he could possibly rest peacefully was if he tied Legolas up, and he simply couldn't bring himself to do that.

He had decided, in the end, to wait and see if Legolas would listen to reason once he woke up. If Aragorn ended up with no new scars at the end of the conversation, then he would allow his body to give in to the rest it so desperately craved.

He munched on a piece of lembas to distract himself from his tiredness and idly drew pictures in the dirt at his feet. Considering all that had happened, it was a miracle, but he could not deny: he was bored.

Just as he thought he might take a chance and get a couple of minutes' nap, he heard a soft groan. Legolas was waking up.

Standing up swiftly to give himself an advantage should the elf prove to be hostile once more, Aragorn quietly observed his friend, watching for any signs of sudden movement. He was taking no chances.

Legolas woke up slowly, blinking a couple of times to clear his vision. When his eyes found Aragorn, they narrowed in an accusing glare before his gaze flicked back to the small amount of sky visible through the trees.

Aragorn became slightly less suspicious as he realized that Legolas had never tried to draw a weapon, though that could simply be because he was lying on his back, where his bow, quiver and knives would usually be strapped, and it would be fairly obvious that they weren't there.

Aragorn sat down again. "So are you going to tell me what everything back there was about?" he asked. The sentence sounded a little strange to his ears. He never thought he would have to use a tone so full of contempt when talking to his best friend.

"I won't kill you, Estel," Legolas said unexpectedly. He was still lying on the dry ground, staring up at the canopy above them with an expression Aragorn couldn't at once identify. "I realize that I would only be accused of murder," Legolas continued, "and the real murderer would simply go free."

Aragorn blinked. "Explain," he said carefully.

"I know you killed them. The elves. As soon as we get back to Mirkwood and I tell my father, you'll be put to death anyway, without me being in any sort of trouble. But we won't be going back to Mirkwood, will we?"

Aragorn had listened in growing dread as Legolas talked, but that last question chilled him to the bone. He was sure Legolas was threatening him. "Why not?" he asked.

"You won't let me," Legolas said simply. "I'm not stupid, Aragorn. You took my weapons for a reason. Where do you say we are going?"

Aragorn continued to stare at the prince, who was still lying on the ground. It suddenly occurred to him that Legolas might not be staying on the ground because he was simply apathetic, perhaps he thought Aragorn would kill him, or something in the likeness. He clearly thought Estel dangerous.

Then again, Legolas had a point in one thing he had said: Thranduil would kill him if Legolas testified against him. It was only the prince that was preventing Thranduil from banning Aragorn from Mirkwood forever already. The only reason the king had asked Aragorn to accompany his son on this trip was because he had no qualms about the possibility of Aragorn getting himself killed in protection of Legolas. It was Legolas himself who had come up with that argument, and though Aragorn wanted to say it did not hurt him to see Thranduil's expression change from adamantly negative to pondering in that one line from his son, it did hurt, a lot.

So where could they go? Aragorn certainly was not going to rely on a miraculous character change in Legolas to save him. He would have to save himself from the Mirkwood king's wrath.

He looked at Legolas again. Since waking, he had not looked once away from the trees directly above them. Aragorn remembered Legolas's admission that the trees had turned him against Aragorn. These trees had something wrong with them. Aragorn did not doubt that in the slightest. He had to get Legolas out of the forest. He had to get him help. And he had to do something better for the deep cut on his arm.

"Rivendell," he muttered. He stood up and stamped out the fire. He scattered the burnt logs, just in case, and pulled his pack onto his back.

Legolas had not moved an inch. He continued to stare at the trees with a mildly grumpy expression on his face. Aragorn moved over to him.

"Come on, Legolas," he said. "We have to go."

Legolas didn't move.

Aragorn growled low in his throat. "Get up, Legolas."

No reaction.

"Am I going to have to force you?"

Still nothing.

Aragorn made the growling noise in his throat again. He reached down and pulled the elf to his feet by his arm. "Now listen, you stubborn elf," he said. "We're going to Rivendell. You're going to come with me and don't try anything. Understood?" Secretly, deep down inside, Aragorn hated himself for what he was doing to Legolas. He was proving the elf's earlier words correct: he _was _the bad one. Legolas was not intentionally accusing him. Aragorn understood how hard it was for the wood elf to turn his back on the trees, beings he had listened to since he was an elfling.

Legolas nodded wordlessly in answer to Aragorn's previous question. He was continuing to glare at the human, and though Aragorn never said it, that glare hurt him more than an arrow through the heart.

He gripped the elf by the upper arm and pulled him through the forest, towards the south-west. They had to get to Rivendell before the winter snows set in and blocked the path, they ran out of food, Aragorn collapsed from sleep deprivation or Legolas stabbed Aragorn in the back.

It was going to be a hard couple of weeks.

X X X X

**A/N**: Poor elf and ranger.

I never got an offer for someone to beta me, but if you want to, tell me so.

This was written under influence of five hours' sleep on my bedroom floor (don't ask – btw, I was NOT drunk), old Blink 182 songs and My Band by D12. I was in a tired and scatterbrained mood, so I'm sorry if this chapter either sucked or contained ramblings.

I was going to put another quote in this, but the only one I could seem to think of was either "Keep to the Code!" or "These chicks don't even know the name of my band" because of my scatterbrainédness, so, stuff it.

Please review! I want to hear what you think.


	7. Moodswings and Branches

**A/N**: Once again, I'm sorry that the previous chapter was a bit rambly and stuff. I've got more sleep now, so hopefully this will be better.

Thanks so much to everyone who is reading this and especially to those who reviewed. Extra special thanks to Peregrin Ionad who agreed to beta. I was actually a bit overwhelmed at the amount of offers I had, but Pip got there first, so hannon le, mellon nin!

X X X X

Legolas walked – or rather stomped – through the forest in front of the man he still thought of as a best friend, but was now a known enemy. He knew he was letting his feelings get in the way of what he had to do: escape from Aragorn and somehow find his way back to his father.

The only excuse he gave himself was that he would likely escape in less than perfect condition, and it would pay to travel with the human until they reached as close to Mirkwood as they would get on the journey. Then, he did not really know what he would do, but he assumed it would have something to do with punching the Edan in the face.

But it was so difficult to do so. He had only managed to attack Aragorn earlier because of the grief-induced adrenaline; now he would have a much harder time hurting his lifelong friend turned enemy.

Aragorn was not stupid. He would not let Legolas walk behind him in case he tried to escape or attack him. Legolas did not like him thinking that one bit, and so had folded his arms in a most un-elvish manner and stomped across the dry, leaf-strewn forest floor. He knew he was behaving like an elfling, but he didn't particularly care.

Aragorn was fuming. Legolas was acting like a little child! The man just wanted to leave this Valar-forsaken forest and, hopefully, the new, immature Legolas behind for good. He still held onto hope that trees elsewhere might have a different, more positive opinion on him. He just hoped Legolas would listen to those trees rather than continue to pay attention to these stupid pieces of firewood.

They walked together in angry silence for what must have been several hours before they arrived at the same clearing Legolas had disappeared from. Aragorn stopped and retrieved Legolas' pack from where he had hidden it. Legolas kept a determinably straight face as Aragorn searched it for any hidden weapons. Clearly, the human didn't care for the elf any longer.

Legolas didn't know how far from the truth that thought was. Aragorn's heart was breaking inside as his mind constantly reminded him of why he had to search his best friend's luggage in the first place. He would give anything – _anything _– for their friendship to go back to what it had been before Imrathon had died. He wished he could trust Legolas, and he wished Legolas could trust him.

No weapons found; Aragorn shoved the pack at Legolas, averting his eyes. He felt slightly angry, but still did not want the grief in his eyes to show.

They had just gotten out of the clearing when it happened. A huge branch dropped from one of the larger trees, directly on top of Aragorn and Legolas. Legolas, with his quick elven reflexes, dived to the side, the tree just missing him. Aragorn was not so lucky.

The branch crashed on top of him, forcing the human to the ground. He couldn't hold back a cry of alarm.

"ESTEL!" Legolas screamed. Panic for the man who, deep down, remained his best friend overrode Legolas' anger for the human. He pulled himself off the ground where he had fallen and rushed to the end of the tree that had crushed Estel.

Legolas dug frantically through the leaves and twigs for his friend. When his fingers came in contact with dirty, unwashed hair, he knew he had found him, but had not found out the condition the man was in.

He carefully pulled the human free of the tree branch. Aragorn had, in fact, been luckier than either of them had dared to hope. He was alive and, aside from multiple scratches, unhurt. The tree had crushed him with the leafy part rather than the hard wood closer to the trunk.

"Are you all right?" Legolas asked, concerned.

"Fine," muttered Aragorn.

Legolas' expression changed faster than Aragorn had thought possible. "Well, then it is more than you deserve," the elf muttered darkly, glaring. He stood up without bothering to offer Aragorn help, which he would have insisted on doing at any other time.

"Sooner we get out of this forest, the better," muttered Aragorn darkly, glaring around the seemingly-innocent trees. A twig full of leaves abruptly dropped on his head. Aragorn growled.

They travelled all day without stopping to rest or eat. Their fractured relationship meant that neither elf nor man was willing to show even the slightest sign of weakness. Aragorn knew that Legolas was only walking so fast and over such difficult terrain to annoy him, or worse, lose him. He was glancing over his shoulder to check on the ranger a little too often…

Legolas was hungry. He hadn't eaten in at least twenty four hours, and while he could keep going on little to no food for that long and longer, it was bothersome, like an itch he couldn't quite reach.

More than that, he was thirsty. That _would _be a problem if he did not drink soon, but he would not stoop so low as to ask Aragorn to stop so he could get some water from his pack. He eventually decided to sneak some when the weak human inevitably had to stop for sleep.

It had been dark for about two hours when Aragorn spotted something that made him almost weep for joy. The edge of the forest was near.

**A/N**: Had a bit of writer's block for this one, but I hope it's okay. What do you reckon? Is this the end of hardship for elf and ranger? I somehow think not… -evil grins-

Review and let me know what you think! Hannon le!


	8. Escape

**A/N**: I had trouble deciding between two very different paths for this story, and eventually decided on this one. I hope I chose right!

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and especially to my beta, Peregrin Ionad, who knows far more than me about commas :P

X X X X

Legolas could see clear sky and bare earth past a line of trees standing like sentinels just in front of him. He could hear them whispering to him, telling him, again, what he already knew. They had been doing it ever since the night Imrathon died.

_'Beware of the ranger_,' they said, '_he is not to be trusted_.'

_'I know_,' Legolas whispered back. '_I'm being careful. Watch over me.'_

_'We cannot, not if you leave.'_

_'But I must_!' Legolas cried to them desperately. '_The human – he won't let me out of his sight! He has my weapons, and I know he'll kill me if I try to get them back_!'

_'Fool_!' the trees hissed. '_You are not trying! Do not leave the forest_.'

Legolas stopped in his tracks. He didn't dare oppose the trees. They knew what was best for him, and they made a valid point. They couldn't protect him from the human if he left them.

"Legolas?" Aragorn called from behind him. "What happened?"

Legolas panicked. What could he say? Aragorn would kill him, just like he killed all those other elves. He had to say something, but anything he thought of sounded stupid. "Nothing's happened," he said eventually. "But I've just thought – are we going to have enough water to last for however long we'll be away from a stream?"

"Yes," said Aragorn. He had lied; they were running out of water fast, but after what had happened with the trees, he wasn't going to trust anything this forest provided them with. They would just have to wait until they got back to Gintrea. He fervently hoped their supplies would last until then.

"Are you sure?" Legolas said. He sounded scared.

"Yes, I'm sure!" snapped Aragorn. "Now move!"

He hadn't meant to be so aggressive, but this forest really scared him. Some of the fear was for him, but most was for Legolas. The trees seemed to be able to twist his thoughts, and it hadn't escaped Aragorn's attention that the branch that had fallen on him would have killed Legolas, not him, if the elf hadn't dived to the side. The trees didn't like him, that much was obvious, but he got the impression that they _hated _Legolas.

Legolas slowly turned his head back to the border of the forest. The trees were shouting at him, telling him to stay. But Aragorn was shouting at him too, and the man was the one with the sword. The trees did not have the reflexes of Aragorn, so maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't do anything to him if he ran for the border.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind then the trees in front of him began to move. They moved slowly, but still faster than any other tree Legolas had ever seen. They were blocking off the exit of the forest, moving so close together that it would be impossible to get out. He was sure Aragorn was shocked too; the man's steps seemed to have stopped.

"RUN!" Aragorn cried.

Legolas obeyed, more from the frightened tone of the man than any real worry. The trees, however irrational their behavior, were only trying to help him.

He felt a sudden sharp pain in the left side of his abdomen and he doubled over, falling to the ground. Aragorn got a couple of steps in front of him before stopping and staring in shocked horror at the elf's stomach. Legolas followed his gaze, and felt his breath catch.

A long, thick stick had embedded itself in his abdomen like an arrow. Judging by the pain he felt, it seemed to have driven itself halfway into his body. He gasped as the sudden shock wore off and the full pain set in.

And then Estel was there, taking the elf in his arms and running for the forest edge. Legolas could see through pain-clouded eyes that the trees were moving too fast. Most of them had touched trunks with those next to them and some of the thinner ones had begun to wind themselves around the thicker ones, creating an impenetrable wall of wood. Aragorn was making for one of the larger gaps, but it was closing off too fast. They weren't going to make it.

And then, in an acrobatic feat that Legolas knew Aragorn had copied from him, the ranger put his feet between the closing gap of the two trees and, still holding the elf, ran upwards, using several branches for footholds. When he got to a gap large enough for them both to make it through, he leapt, landing heavily on the other side of the trees, out of the forest.

Legolas couldn't stifle a cry of pain as they hit the ground, though Aragorn tried to cushion his fall. The ranger pushed the elf off his knees and onto the ground, turning back to the forest to make sure they were truly out of danger.

The trees now stood still, most touching another to create the wall that was supposed to trap the two inside. It had very nearly worked, and their effort to kill one of them very well _could _work.

Satisfied the trees were not moving or shooting any more projectiles at them, Aragorn turned back to Legolas. The elf's eyes were closed, though it was from pain rather than unconsciousness; his jaw was clenched and his hands were holding the area around where the stick had driven itself into his flesh. Aragorn knelt beside him and began assessing the wound.

"Estel!" Legolas gasped as Aragorn tried to remove his tunic.

"I'm sorry, Legolas, I have to," he apologized, thinking Legolas had been complaining about the pain.

"No," Legolas said. "I have to say I'm sorry."

Aragorn stopped and looked into the elf's blue eyes. "What for, mellon-nin?"

Legolas rolled his eyes. "What for, the stupid Edan asks," he muttered, smiling a little despite the pain. "I'm sorry for trying to kill you, for not trusting you, hurting you…" The elf's gaze flicked for a second to the wound on Aragorn's arm before he looked back to his face. "I'm sorry for bringing you here in the first place, I'm sorry for the way my father treats you – I know it hurts you, don't pretend it doesn't! – for getting shot –"

"You think that's your fault?" Aragorn cut him off. "You think _any _of that's your fault? You're ridiculous, Legolas." He took out a small knife and cut through the clothing around the elf's wound, not daring to remove the stick until he was more certain it had not hit any vital organs, before removing his outer tunic.

"Please accept my apology," said Legolas in a small voice. "Say you forgive me. I can't rest until I hear it."

"I forgive you, Legolas," he said. "You've listened to the trees your whole life. You can't just stop now. It wasn't your fault."

Legolas remained silent. Aragorn chose that moment to wrench the stick from his abdomen, eliciting a scream from the elf.

Aragorn stared at the stick. It seemed to have been perfectly formed for this purpose. The end that was now covered in blood was sharpened to a point, with the rest of the stick a perfect cylinder about the circumference of the man's finger. It almost made him sick to think of how much hate one forest had for the elves, but he felt more confused. _Why _would they hate the elves so much? After all they did for the trees? He made a point to ask Legolas about any mistreatment given to the trees by the wood elves in the time since the elven patrols started vanishing.

He bandaged the wound as best he could. He didn't bring anywhere near the amount of healing supplies he should have. He never did, for some stupid reason.

He suddenly realized that the horses they had obtained from Gintrea were gone. He hadn't thought of them in light of everything else that had happened, but now it struck him as something he really should have paid more consideration to. He would have to carry Legolas all the way back to Gintrea with an arm that, while fairly superficially wounded, would hurt terribly after carrying the elf for who knew how long.

X X X X

**A/N**: Crappy place to finish, but I really wanted to get it out. Chapters might take a bit longer from now on because school's going back (die) and I've got a massive lot of homework coming. Sorry!

Please review and tell me what you think!

On another note, having a LOTR athon with a friend on the weekend. Should be fun if I can stay awake! I can never stay up past ten or so. Random fact of the day!


	9. Two Incompetents

**A/N**: Well, this has been a while coming. I'm sorry, but I did warn that it might. School's starting again, but on top of the workload and sleep problems I was already expecting, my best friend lost someone close to her. I've been a bit of a shoulder to cry on for her, and I knew the person too, not as well as her, but enough to hurt. Anyway, she asked me to write a story for her, which I've been working on very hard. I won't post it until this one's done or I've finished the other, because I don't want two stories at the same time unless they're complete. I hope you do understand that it's very important to her and I want to work hard on it, though I'd never abandon this one.

My selfish (yep, I'm calling you selfish and I'm not afraid to say it) other friend told me to do something stupid. She gave me a challenge to put Sue like characters into a serious story. So I wrote the chapter, and as I was re reading it this morning I decided it was far too nauseating for even the author. So I wrote two: this one (which completely ignores the challenge) and one I emailed to her. Nothing whatsoever happened, they were just in the background being stupid and annoying, to be featured in about seven paragraphs, then immediately discarded. So nothing happening – everyone blame Shannon for me ALMOST making you sick.

Once again, thanks heaps to all the wonderful reviews and to Peregrin Ionad who bata-ed this story, and whose birthday it was last update, but I was too stupid to change the author notes to say it, because I found out after I wrote it. So everyone say happy birthday!

And, finally, on with the story.

X X X X

"_Put me down_!"

"No."

"I'm the prince of Mirkwood, and I order you to put me down!"

"I'm heir to Isildur, and I say _no_."

"Mirkwood's closer than Gondor."

"Well, I'm also chief of the Dunedain, who live just about anywhere. Anywhere includes here."

Legolas added a fist pounding on the ranger's chest to his struggles. Aragorn ignored him and walked on, as he had been doing for around half an hour now. Where in Arda was the town? He couldn't remember how long it had taken them to travel here on horseback; the incidents that had happened inside the forest had driven that from his mind. He hoped it wasn't much longer. Elladan and Elrohir would laugh their heads off if they heard him, a ranger, whining about being forced to walk for only half an hour. But carrying Legolas was another matter. The elf was making it his mission to turn Aragorn into a walking mass of bruises by the end of the day.

Legolas changed his tactic suddenly and smashed his fist onto the wound on Aragorn's arm. The man yelped involuntarily and felt his arm go numb. He dropped Legolas, hard, upon the ground and clutched his upper arm.

Legolas landed with a grunt of pain and reflexively curled in on himself. He opened his eyes and saw Aragorn grimacing in pain, still holding his arm.

"Estel, I'm sorry!" he said.

Aragorn glared at him, but his gaze softened as Legolas tried and failed to push himself up. He leaned down and pulled the elf to his feet, pulling his arm over his own shoulders. "Will you cooperate now?" he asked.

Legolas said nothing, which Aragorn knew meant assent. They started walking again, heading slowly toward the village where all their problems had begun.

X X X X

It was night. The velvety black sky stretched on forever up above, interrupted by only the stars. The moon was not shining this night, and it was hard to see anything down on the ground.

But small shadows still danced in places, and it was on the largest one that Rancular was focusing.

It was about the height of a reasonably tall man, and twice as broad. It lurched occasionally in any direction. Rancular wondered if this was one of the liars that had been devouring the elves, come at last to the town. Quietly, he left his window, collected his sword and opened his front door.

He slipped discreetly between buildings, just another shadow amongst many. Two horses standing in a field seemed the only ones to notice his passing, and neither made a sound.

He made his way past the outermost house, though still keeping within a good distance of it, should things go ill. He drew his sword, and the scraping metal must have alerted the homeowner above, for a candle appeared in the window. Rancular ignored it. He kept his attention focused on the thing approaching slowly.

Suddenly, the candlelight caught on the thing approaching, and Rancular gasped as he realized what it was. It was those two travellers, who had been stupid enough to go into the forest days ago. They had, against all odds, returned.

But not in good shape. One or both of them was badly hurt, making them lurch occasionally they walked. They were leaning on each other, and because of the almost non-existent light, he couldn't tell which.

The candlelight disappeared and Rancular sheathed his sword. He trusted those two, and even if he didn't, they were in no shape to be putting up much of a fight. He began walking out to meet them.

"Who is it?" Aragorn called reasonably loudly as he spotted a dim figure walking towards them. He hoped desperately that they were friendly; he was exhausted and in no shape to defend himself for an extended period of time.

When no answer came from the shadow, Aragorn squeezed the arm draped over his neck to get Legolas' attention. "Can you see him?" he muttered in the elf's ear.

Legolas' head lifted slowly as he focused on the shadow before he shook it and let it drop down again. Aragorn's heart screamed in empathy for his friend. If he was exhausted, he couldn't imagine what Legolas might be feeling. He had no idea how long they had been travelling, but he had not stopped once to check his wound. He cursed himself now – what if it had reopened or had become infected? – But he had simply not thought of it, so focused was he upon his goal.

"Who is it?" he asked again, a note of trepidation creeping into his voice.

"It is I," said a voice.

Aragorn puzzled over the answer for a second before connecting the voice to a face. "Rancular?"

"It is I," he said again.

Aragorn grew irritated. "Why didn't you answer me before?" he hissed as the other man reached them.

"My hearing is not what it once was," he said. "Too much time spent listening to trees moan."

Aragorn looked up sharply. "What?"

Rancular ignored him. "This one's been through the mill, hasn't he?" he said, looking at Legolas. "We have healers here… I think… we did ten years ago, at any rate, can't remember if they moved out or died or… Not terribly good ones, mind…"

Aragorn couldn't help but wonder whether Rancular was acting like a senile old man for his benefit or whether he was actually (instead of 'just') crazy. He kept his gaze on the rambling man, alert for any evidence to either argument, as he followed him back into the town.

X X X X

Rancular had been right about one thing concerning the town's healers: they were not very good. Aragorn walked into the room, half-dragging Legolas with him, and the two girls, who couldn't have been older than fourteen or fifteen, immediately began to try and help. He remembered Rancular saying that he'd met the healers ten years ago and tried picturing the two chubby-faced girls fighting over a cloth doll. Maybe the man truly had gone insane.

"Serra!" said one. "Get water. I'll see what's wrong with them."

_See what's wrong with them_, Aragorn thought grumpily. It was obvious what was wrong with them. He had always been rather sceptical of anyone attempting to treat his best friend, particularly when he was this badly injured.

The girl who had been sent to get water – Serra, wasn't it? – looked up from her task of pouring water into a bowl in the corner. "Oh," she said softly. "Is that BLOOD?"

Aragorn looked at his injured arm and saw no more blood than had been there previously. He was relieved for a moment, until he helped Legolas into one of the three beds occupying the room and saw what Serra had really been looking at.

The wound had reopened; the front of the elf's tunic was drenched in blood.

The other girl, still hovering over the pair, gave a small squeak. "How on earth did that happen?"

Aragorn ignored her; he was already pulling off the bandage he had wrapped around Legolas' abdomen earlier. "Where's that water?"

Serra came over slowly. It seemed like she was afraid of blood; she was pale and her breathing was just a little too fast. She stood next to the other girl, who held her hand. "We don't have any experience treating major wounds," she said apologetically, "let alone elves. We usually only treat sick children, or care for men who have spent a little too long in the tavern."

Aragorn sighed. Legolas had finally lost the battle with blood loss and had succumbed to unconsciousness. Aragorn had to take care of all his medical needs, but he was close to exhaustion himself.

He sighed in resignation and got to work.

**A/N**: I'm almost fainting from exhaustion now myself (that's what it's like having insomnia and anaemia badly together) so I'll make this quick. About half hasn't been beta-ed because I didn't have the heart to send it off twice. So sorry for any mistakes.

Tired. Bed now. Please review!


	10. Aragorn's Discovery

**A/N**: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. I replied to everyone except anonymous_fog, who as you can tell by the name, was anonymous. But thanks heaps for your comments, they really inflated my ego!

And an extra big super hugemongous thankyou to my beta, Peregrin Ionad. I made all the changes except the first one, which was to do with tense. Didn't is kind of past tense, isn't would be the present... unless it's the French passe compose thing I'm stuffing. If so, sorry.

X X X X

Aragorn sat in a chair beside a window, thinking. It was pitch black outside, but he didn't need light to see the way the trees moved to try and stop them from escaping. Every detail was playing itself over and over in his head.

He'd lived almost all his life amongst the elves or rangers, and a part of that time had been spent within the great forest of Mirkwood. He had never, in all his life, seen or heard of trees moving with that speed, nor had he ever seen any tree not touched by the Shadow attempt to kill. The curious part of himself was perked, and he wanted to discover the reason the trees hated them.

When Legolas awoke from the sleeping herbs he had forced into him, Aragorn decided he would tell his best friend that he was going back, alone. Legolas would not like it, he would try to come along, but Aragorn could not allow it. Legolas was a danger to both Aragorn and himself if he went back into the forest, and he was in no condition to fight off hundreds of killer trees, beings that were assaulting him in both mind and body, but beings that Legolas would adamantly refuse to harm. No, bringing Legolas along was a very bad idea.

A tiny sliver of light had illuminated the eastern sky. Aragorn was impatient. Just a few minutes more… then Legolas should awaken, and he would be off.

Aragorn couldn't wait any longer. He stood up and stretched his tired muscles, grabbed his pre-prepared bag and went into the adjoining room to wait for Legolas to wake up.

He was surprised to see Legolas sitting up and staring at his fingers, clearly bored. He looked up at Aragorn's entrance. "I assume you're dressed and packed because you want to return to Mirkwood without delay and leave this economically drained pigsty of a town behind as fast as possible?"

Aragorn blinked in surprise. Legolas had possibly just given the most articulate insult he had ever heard. But what he was most worried about was the fact that Legolas was clearly grumpy.

_You can't really have been expecting any different, not after you drugged him? _a small part of him whispered.

_Shut up, brain_, he said back.

"Legolas?" he said. "I have something to say."

Legolas didn't react when Aragorn sat on the end of the bed, save to fiddle with some stray strands of hair. "I'm leaving," Aragorn started, unsure of how to proceed.

Legolas raised an eyebrow. "I did not miss the 'I' in that sentence, Estel."

"Oh… yes," said Aragorn, looking down. How to say it… "I'm going back to the forest." There. It was out. "Alone." Second part out. Now to wait for Legolas' reaction.

"Alone," Legolas repeated. His face was unreadable for a brief second before it slowly slipped into a scowl. "Why alone?"

"Because…" Aragorn struggled for an explanation that would not hurt Legolas' pride. But there was none. All his explanations revolved around how Legolas was unfit for travel or fighting, how if he came along he'd only get both of them killed, how he had to think of what his father would say if he knew Legolas had intentionally wandered into danger. Legolas would take none of them well, particularly with his current temperament. He would just have to say it. "Because you're injured –"

"So are you," Legolas interrupted, glaring at the bandage covering Aragorn's upper arm.

"And if you come," said Aragorn, "It could happen again. Have you forgotten how I got hurt in the first place?"

Legolas stopped looking angry and started looking hurt. "You don't trust me."

"I do trust you –"

"If you did, I would be coming," Legolas said.

"I don't trust the trees not to target your tree obsession and turn you against me, or worse, yourself."

Legolas looked livid. "My '_tree obsession_'?"

Aragorn was starting to get worried. "You said yourself that your… love of trees was easy to make fun of…" he said awkwardly

Legolas' scowl deepened for a few seconds before his face changed back into the unreadable mask it had been previously. "Fine," he said. "You go."

Aragorn was confused, but he wasn't going to give up on a freely given ticket to the forest. He stood up, picked up his bag and walked out.

On his way down the street, he passed the house of the man who had sold the horses to them on their last trip into the forest. The two animals were standing in the tiny field in front of the house, staring at him with wide, brown eyes. Aragorn looked around quickly before vaulting over the face and taking the one he had ridden previously. He spoke softly to it in Sindarin to calm its nerves and keep it quiet. He did not feel bad for stealing the horse, it was, after all, his, but he did not want any trouble, as the owner of the house would almost definitely claim it as his.

Aragorn swung himself into the saddle and took off.

X X X X

As Aragorn approached the forest at around midday, he was surprised to see that the trees had moved back to their original position. They did not make any motion or any other outward sign of life, but Aragorn was still tense in the saddle, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger.

He continued journeying east for the rest of the day. The trees began to groan a little and move ever so slightly as he reached the centre, but the movement was nothing compared to what it had been previously.

He was more concerned about the other signs of life in this part of the forest. He could have been mistaken, but he had the feeling he was being followed. He turned around often, but he never saw anything.

He didn't want to stop that night, partly for fear of whatever was following him, and partly for fear of being stuck should the horse run home again. He still marveled at how cunning the previous owner had been, to train the horses to run home to be sold again as soon as the buyer let their guard down.

It was about midnight when it happened. Aragorn came upon a large area of the forest that was completely clear except for one lone beech tree. The tree was moving faster than even the trees at the border had moved when they tried to block Aragorn and Legolas' escape. It was standing in one place, turning swiftly, reaching out to each tree in reach of its long branches. Aragorn became slightly dizzy just looking at it, but his curiosity was far greater than any discomfort. He knew without being told that he had reached the centre of the forest, but this was stranger than anything he had expected to see.

He let out a long breath of awe, and the tree stopped moving. It turned.

Aragorn gasped.

The tree was facing him, looking at him with giant amber eyes that were filled with wisdom, power and pain. Aragorn had only ever seen eyes with such emotion on one other being: the Lady Galadriel. He knew what this being was.

"You're an Ent," he said.

The tree blinked and bent down further toward him. "I am not an Ent," it said in a deep voice. "Damned be the Ents for hurting me and my sisters! I am – was – an Entwife. No longer. They hurt me. But I do not know what else to call myself."

The great tree sighed. Aragorn was still staring, wide-eyed. If Ents were legends, Entwives were myths. And here he was, talking to one. Only one thought was going through his head at that moment.

Elladan and Elrohir were _never _going to beat him in a storytelling contest again.

X X X X

**A/N**: Not entirely sure, but next one should be up on Wednesday.

Please review!


	11. An Entwife Scorned

**A/N**: Almost had a heart attack when I saw the amount of reviews and alerts and favs this afternoon, so decided to write this early. See, reviewing does help!

I replied to everyone but tchb, who was anonymous. But thanks so much for reviewing!

Also, thanks to willabeth0906, who gave me this chapter title in a review. Haven't had enough sleep, couldn't think of a title, so went through my reviews! Sorry.

Again, a huge thank you to Peregrin Ionad, my beta who is trilingual (and then there's me, struggling to get through two French sentences…)

X X X X

Legolas trudged along the barren ground, trying to refrain from counting his steps. He had been walking for hours and he was sick of it. When was that forest going to appear?

He was confused. Part of him thought that Aragorn was crazy, wanting to go back. Adventure… it was a cheap excuse for getting himself killed.

But then, there was the other, small part of him that was curious. Curious as to why trees wanted to kill him, and the other elves. Curious as to what the mayor of this town had done for his father, so many years ago, to convince him to send his much-needed patrols out here. Legolas had been there. The Shadow had not advanced nearly so much as it had now, but it was still powerful enough to test the strength of the Mirkwood army. It must have been a very good deed of the mayor to warrant that kind of treatment. But above all, he was curious about himself. He felt… strange. There was no other word to describe it. He still remembered the voices in his head, telling him that it was Aragorn's fault that all those elves had disappeared. The voices were completely gone now, but he still remembered.

Reason said Aragorn couldn't possibly have killed all those elves. For one thing, he had been with Legolas for most of the time the patrols had been vanishing. For another, the man's battle skills may be good, but he was not nearly good enough to wipe out hundreds of agile elves without raising an alarm.

But Legolas had other reason to be unhappy with Aragorn. He had left him, left him alone in a town of humans, something Aragorn knew perfectly well Legolas wasn't comfortable with. He had blamed him for everything that had happened in the forest. He did not say it exactly like that, but the words the ranger had used were almost worse. They repeated themselves over and over in his head, a distant hum that gradually built up to a roaring crescendo.

_Have you forgotten how I got hurt in the first place?_

_Have you forgotten?_

_Forgotten?_

Legolas kicked a stray rock in frustration. Aragorn's words not only made him remember how it had been his knife to slice through his best friend's arm, they had also insulted his maturity and memory. _Have you forgotten_… it sounded patronizing. Legolas' scowl deepened.

X X X X

Aragorn continued staring at this great creature. He wanted to reach out to her, prove he was not a threat. But this being was thousands of years older than the oldest elf he had ever met, and he had no idea how to do it.

"Mae govannen," he said, a little awkwardly. "I am called Estel."

The tree continued looking at him. "Hope," she said. "Hope… if your name means hope, perhaps you can tell me where hope has fled in these dark times…" She broke off, muttering to herself.

Aragorn smiled slightly despite the situation. Ents were said to be very slow, but this one seemed unusually hurried and brisk. "Hope is here, even if you can't see it."

The Entwife looked at him sharply. "You do not look like an elf," she said.

"No," said Aragorn. He knew it was wrong, but he found this creature strangely endearing. "I'm a man."

"A man?" she said, her eyes widening. "That does change things. Is that why you wouldn't listen to me?"

Aragorn frowned in confusion. "I am listening to you."

"No," the Entwife said. "Listen to my message. Earlier. About how the elf prince destroyed his countrymen."

"But he didn't," said Aragorn. "And neither did I."

"No," she said. "But I am sure you have hurt somebody in the past."

Aragorn sighed, remembering Legolas' face when he said he was leaving without him. "I don't deny it."

The Entwife smiled, bark seeming to stretch over her form. "What was her name?"

"Her?" Aragorn questioned sharply. "No, I hurt my friend, the one who I'm assuming you told to kill me."

"So you have never felt love?" she asked. "You have never felt higher than the stars, never felt that unbreakable bond with another person's soul?"

"I have," said Aragorn, wondering where this was going.

"So you have hurt a woman."

"No!"

"You will."

"No, I won't," Aragorn was starting to get angry. "I love her, I would never do anything to harm her."

A small puddle of water slowly appeared at the feet of the Entwife. It took Aragorn a second to realize she was crying.

"Did somebody hurt you?" Aragorn asked, gently as possible.

X X X X

Legolas, at last, crossed under the eaves of the forest. He immediately felt a connection to the trees, but it was not that sinister urging that they greeted him with. If anything, they sounded confused. He decided it was due to the fact that there was no human for them to tell him to kill.

He had been walking all day and was exhausted. It was well into night by now, and the wound in his abdomen was giving him quite a bit of trouble. He ignored it for the most part, but was aware of the fact that he was bending over a little to try and stave of the pain.

He had not been walking long after when he sensed another presence in the woods. He was not sure of exactly what it was, but he kept on walking despite it. Maybe it was just another tree that had taken longer to take a liking to him than the others.

His suspicions were cast aside, though, when he heard a stick crack close by. He turned quickly, gazing past the tree trunks, but could not see anything beyond. He kept walking, but was more vigilant now, his gaze flitting around him carefully.

He heard a sudden voice behind him that was immediately stifled by another shushing it. Needing no more thinking time, Legolas spun around, bow already drawn and an arrow pointing where he had heard the voice.

A man suddenly burst forth from behind a tree, brandishing a sword. Legolas shot him down easily, but an entire group had followed him.

He continued shooting as long as possible. In the end, there were only about ten left. That was good, he thought as he pulled out his twin knives, he could handle ten easily.

He spun, dodging away from an attempt on his life by one of the men nearer to him, and lashed out with one of his knives in the same move. The man fell, dead. Only nine to go.

He stabbed one man on his left while slitting the throat of one on his right at the same time. Seven to go.

One man who had stayed back throughout most of the fight noticed the small amount of blood left on Legolas' tunic. He reached up and used all his force to punch him straight on his wound. Legolas let out a strangled gasp and dropped his knives, clutching the area desperately. He berated himself after he realized what he had done. He could still see his weapons instructor, speaking to the group of assembled elflings. _'Rule number one in a fight; never drop your weapon'_.

That was his last thought before a sword hilt came smashing into the back of his head and he fell into darkness.

X X X X

**A/N**: That last bit was written at four in the morning... yep, still not sleeping. It was later than I had hoped but still earlier than Wednesday, unless you're from New Zealand (and well, it is Wednesday morning here in Australia).

Next update should be round Saturday, family dramas forbid (this was a LITTLE late because of a depressive episode of my sister, but she's all good now), but I promise you an early update if I get enough reviews. Shouldn't be buying them like that, but I am one of those people who gets super excited over a really small amount of reviews. So, review!


	12. It's Hot and I Can't Think of a Name!

**A/N**: Well, this has been a while coming! I am sorry; I got sick and my brain stopped working. I hope I'm forgiven (smiles hopefully)

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, and especially Peregrin Ionad who is my most wonderfullest beta.

X X X X

"Yes!" the Entwife wailed. "Someone _did _hurt me, horribly! The love of my life said I was weighing him down with my problems. He brushed me off for years and years... They were all doing it, you know? I don't know why. But us, the ones they hurt, took our Entings and moved north in the dead of night. We vanished, and I never saw him again!"

Aragorn was feeling rather uncomfortable with the emotional outburst. He had always been a good listener, but he didn't know how to comfort a tree. He wished suddenly that he had not left Legolas behind. "Are your Entings around?" Aragorn asked. It sounded stupid to his ears, but the Entwife seemed to cheer up a little.

"Oh, no!" she said. "He moved south to live with his father's people. My only child, but I am proud of him. Although he made me sad when he left, he wants peace in our family. I will never go back. Not after the hundreds of years where I was treated like your kind treats its women."

Aragorn felt uncomfortable. He was well aware of how many humans treated their wives, and he had always vowed to never be like them. He decided to move the conversation away from himself. "Why don't you try moving back? I'm sure your family misses you."

"I am perfectly happy here," the Entwife said. "These trees are my family now. I have raised them from nothing. The oldest trees in the forest were nothing but tiny seeds when I brought them to this former barren wasteland. I just don't tolerate intruders. They are never kind to the woods."

"Tell me," said Aragorn quietly, "have you ever actually spoken to an elf without telling them lies or ordering your 'family' to kill them? They love trees. They are as much your family as the rest of this forest."

The Entwife looked a little affronted. "No," she said. "Why should I? I have seen no evidence to prove that they love us."

"That's because you put thoughts that are not theirs into their head without letting them prove themselves. You should meet my girlfriend. She is an elf. I think you would like her."

The giant tree seemed to hesitate. "A girl?"

"Yes."

She sniffed loudly. "I might be willing to see her."

X X X X

The first thing Legolas was aware of was a dull, throbbing pain. The next was the large amount of blades resting at his throat. He blinked in surprise.

"What are you doing in our forest?" one voice said in a strange accent Legolas couldn't place.

"Looking for my friend, the one who abandoned me in some village because he didn't trust me to accompany him!" Legolas said grumpily. He had not been in a good mood for the last few days, and thins just made him furious. "Besides, _I _didn't know there was any occupation by men here. _He _probably did..." He broke off, muttering darkly.

The men surrounding him glanced at each other, some with confusion, some with amusement. They looked nothing like the men Legolas was accustomed to seeing. Their faces seemed flatter, and their skin was very dark, far darker than Aragorn's. Their clothes looked more like robes, they flowed loosely over their frames, and it was a wonder how they managed to fight wearing such cumbersome clothing.

"Why did you friend come here?" another man asked.

"Because we wanted to," Legolas said, being sure not to admit to these men that his father had been the one ordering elves into these woods. By the looks of the situation, it didn't sound like the men would take that well at all.

"Don't give us attitude!" the first man said. He placed his foot squarely on the elf's wound and began to push down slowly. "Now, tell us, why did you come?"

Legolas winced but did not make a sound or try to pull away. "I told you," he said, with as much control over the increasing pain as he could muster, "we wanted to. We're wanderers, we roam Middle Earth looking for new places to visit. We haven't come here before, and we wanted to see what it's like."

One man, the one with the longest hair, suddenly withdrew his blade from Legolas' neck. "You friend isn't the ranger, is he?"

Legolas thought. He could lie and say no, he'd never met a ranger, but that might lead to questions of who his "real" friend was. Or he could admit the truth, but that might get him into more trouble, if these men happened to hate rangers. But that man had withdrawn his sword before asking him... He decided on the latter option.

"Yes," he said, "that's him. Where is he?"

The first one to speak took his foot off Legolas' stomach and said something to his companion in a language Legolas didn't recognize. They seemed to be having an argument. If it was about whether to believe him, well, he sincerely hoped they would.

They seemed to reach an agreement. The one who had suggested his friendship to Aragorn turned back to him. "Your friend is with the Lady of the Wood."

X X X X

**A/N**: It's a little short, but honestly, I had real trouble with this chapter. I really wanted to get something out, and if I spend too much longer on this then I probably won't get finish until next Sunday... my sister's coming home soon, she's going to want the computer.

Anyway, tell me where it sucked, or didn't suck (smiles hopefully again)

PS I posted another story, that one that I talked about earlier that I had to work on for a friend. It's not completely finished but I've got quite a few chapters up my sleeve, but I just want to remind everyone that I would NEVER abandon this story. So, yeah.


	13. Bad News

**A/N**: Merry Christmas to all! And thanks so much to my reviewers!

X X X X

"The _what_?" Legolas cried. He had never met the Lady Galadriel, but he knew where she lived, and it wasn't here! What was going on? Aragorn had probably known she was here all along…

He was still angry at the human, though he did not know why. When he thought about his feelings, he was not angry, but when his mind was elsewhere, there was a constant, powerful resentment festering in the back of his mind.

"The Lady of the Wood…" said one man, sounding a little unsure. "She lives in the very centre of the forest, in a clearing. We could take you to her, if you wish."

"No, we can't!" said the man who had argued with him before. "He is not to be trusted. None are who have not been seen to by the Lady!"

"Well then I think we should allow him to see her, Ferian. Besides, we have already discussed this. He is an elf, a friend of the trees."

"Not all friends of the trees are friends of the Lady!"

While they continued to bicker, Legolas stood up, watched carefully by the other, seemingly undecided members of the group. He wondered what they were talking about – he was certain Galadriel would like him well enough. This was getting stranger and stranger.

"We cannot decide what her opinion would be," said the one Legolas couldn't help liking, the one who had been arguing his case. "Every one of us has seen her. She has judged us all personally. Let her do the same for him."

Ferian was spluttering slightly. He didn't strike Legolas as the clever type, and he appeared to be struggling for another excuse to prevent Legolas from seeing Galadriel.

"Fine," Ferian said finally. "But if the Lady does not accept him, you must agree to give him to me."

"Agreed," said the other, and Legolas cleared his throat pointedly.

"I do speak Westron, you know," said the elf pointedly. He knew that he was, again, acting like an elfling, but, again, he didn't care.

"I apologize," said the nicer man. "I am Costo. We will escort you to see the Lady, if you are willing to join us. What would your name be?"

_Acting like an elfling pays off,_ thought Legolas, enjoying the respect the man was giving him. "I am Legolas," he said, trying to ignore the rather unnerving glares he was receiving from Ferian.

The group formed itself into a long line, and Legolas found himself in the middle, with Costo leading the men. Ferian was standing right behind Legolas, who was trying not to turn around and snap at him for breathing down his neck. He may be annoyed, but he would be far more annoyed when Ferian finally managed to convince the trusting-but-wary men of the fact he was an emotionally unstable being who only wanted an audience with Galadriel so he could stab her in the back when she wasn't looking.

It was not a long walk before Legolas began to hear voices. One was clearly discernable as Aragorn's, though he could not hear what was being said; he other, however, was strange. He could not tell whether it sounded male or female, not because it sounded in between the two pitches, but because it sounded so unlike any male or female voice Legolas had ever heard that he couldn't decide which to pick.

He had to laugh at how long it took the men he was traveling with to hear the voices. Costo had announced in a voice that, if he used it any elven colony, would have been laughed at so much the first time that he would never dare of using it again, that they were getting close now; he could hear what was being said. It reminded Legolas of the many times Aragorn had pointed out something small or far away, only for Legolas to say he had been studying it for ten minutes before he saw it. He felt a strange pang in his heart as he thought of Aragorn. He missed the feeling of utter friendship and trust he used to share with him. It was gone now, and he couldn't remember who had been the one to break it.

When they finally came out from the shelter of the trees, Legolas saw both the strangest and the most welcome sight he had ever laid eyes upon. Aragorn was standing there, talking to a tree. But it was not a tree. Legolas recognized one of the Ents when he saw it; he had seen enough pictures in books to make sure of that.

Legolas walked forward, his eyes filled with wonder as they rested upon the Ent. He could see, out of the corner of his eye, Ferian move to stop him, but Costo put out a restraining hand.

"Mae govannen," said Legolas, placing a hand over his heart in the elvish fashion. "It is an honour to meet one of the Ents."

The Ent in question sniffed. "Those are very pretty words, Master Elf, but I am no Ent. I am an Entwife, and I would have you remember that."

"Forgive me," said Legolas, sincere but at the same time humoured a little by the way her branches bristled.

Aragorn quietly observed his friend's meeting with the tree. He could see the joy in Legolas' eyes: this meeting with one of the great tree herders was surely one every woodland elfling dreamed of.

His gaze turned to the strange men who had accompanied him. Two of them were having a quiet but heated argument, and by the gestures made at Legolas, Aragorn could easily guess who they were fighting over.

He did not intervene, but resolved to keep a careful eye on them in case things turned dangerous for his friend. He turned his mind back t the conversation between the two beings of the trees.

"I've dreamed of this day for so long," Legolas said quietly, confirming Aragorn's suspicions. "I really am honoured to meet you."

The touchy Entwife sniffed again. "I'm sorry," she said, and Aragorn was surprised to hear genuine self reproach in her voice. "You love the woods, you love your home… but you will not last much longer."

The smile instantly vanished from Legolas' face. "What are you talking about?"

"You are sad," said the Entwife. A leaf laden branch lowered towards the elf and touched him as the gnarled face studied him. "Elves die of grief. I am sorry to inform you that that will be your fate."

X X X X

**A/N**: OK, some VERY IMPORTANT news! READ THIS:

I'm going away on an exchange trip in a few weeks, and will not be able to update nearly as often. I'll still try, but there are no guarantees. When I come back (late June to early July) I'll be in a new house, but fortunately I won't be involved in the moving process, so that won't affect you. I'm really sorry for this, it is out of my control how often I can update from now on. But I won't abandon this or any other story. This will be completed, and I don't know, I may be able to update just as often, it all depends on what happens.

Sad stuff over, I hope you all had an eventful but not too eventful Christmas. I nearly got bitten by a funnel web... God bless screaming friends and rushed trips underwater.

Review!


	14. Fights

**A/N**: Snow day today. You don't know how strange it is for an Aussie girl to be getting a snow day.

Again, thanks so much for everyone who reviewed!

And finally, this chapter is unbetaed, as my beta is out of the country.

X X X X

Aragorn watched Legolas carefully as he lay on his side on the rough forest floor. Three of the men from the group who had accompanied Legolas stood around them, watching them suspiciously. Both man and elf ignored them. Aragorn's attention was focused solely on the figure in front of him.

Legolas' eyes were opened unseeingly as he stared upwards into the canopy of the trees, hands folded peacefully upon his breast, but Aragorn could tell he wasn't sleeping. He hadn't slept for two days, since the Entwife had told him he was going to die.

Aragorn pushed the thought out of his head as soon as it entered. He couldn't think like that, he wouldn't. Legolas wasn't going to die; Aragorn would make sure of that. The only thing that worried Aragorn was the fact that Legolas did seem like he was grieving. Growing up in Rivendell, he had known an elf who had lost his wife to a tragic landslide on the side of the mountain. The poor elf had lasted two weeks before fading to grief, and he had acted very much like Legolas was acting now.

There was also the issue of not knowing just how powerful an Entwife was. Did she know the future? Could she look into someone's soul and tell what they were feeling? These questions weighed heavily on his mind, and he did not want to risk Legolas' life. He would take him to Rivendell and get his father to look at him.

He rolled onto his back, realizing there was no point to staring at his unresponsive friend. On top of not sleeping, Legolas had not uttered a word since the Entwife had said he would die. Aragorn could not think of why; normally, Legolas would simply have laughed off a declaration of his impending death, everyone from orcs to Lord Elrond had told him he would die at one time or another. Maybe it was because of his undying loyalty to the trees…

Aragorn stopped thinking as soon as he heard one of the three watching men move toward another. He had always had uncommonly good hearing for a man, it came with being a ranger, and he put it to good use now. The two men were standing off towards his right, whispering as though frightened someone would overhear. They were right to fear, and wrong to believe whispering would help.

"I'm sick of Costo," muttered one man, the one who had left his post for this chat. "We should do something about him."

"Those are dangerous words," said the other back. "But he is far away… and I happen to agree."

"Were you listening to Ferian? He wants the elf, and now he knows about him, I assume he wants that man too."

There was a slight pause in the conversation, and Aragorn held his breath, trying to hear better. "I say," continued the first man, "that we take matters into our own hands, if you understand what I am saying…"

"When? There is never an opportune moment for things like this."

"Sh. Not here. I'll be in contact…" The man finished on an oddly suggestive note and moved off.

Aragorn lay awake for a long time after that, heart beating wildly.

X X X X

As soon as it was light enough to warrant waking up, Aragorn stood and grabbed Legolas, dragging him none too gently towards a fairly sheltered copse of trees. "It ends here, Legolas."

Legolas said nothing, but fixed him with a questioning glance. "Don't pretend," growled Aragorn. "You know what I'm talking about. You and I are going to have to work together pretty hard to get to Rivendell without the guard dogs." He was exaggerating slightly the difficulty of getting away from those men; if they actually put their minds to it, getting away should be ridiculously simple, but he wanted Legolas' effort.

"Rivendell?" muttered the elf. It was the first thing he had said since the declaration of his doom by the Entwife.

"Yes, Rivendell. I'm worried about you." He couldn't quite keep all of his emotions from his voice.

"Why?" questioned the elf emotionlessly.

Aragorn blinked. "You haven't been yourself," he said eventually. "You've been… well, mean. You're more aggressive, less friendly… and it's not just for now, it's been ages, _what is wrong with you_?" Aragorn was shouting now at the overly passive elf and he didn't know why. The emotions of the last few weeks were finally catching up with him and he was taking it out on his best friend.

Legolas blinked, and in that one moment his eyes changed from utterly emotionless to furious. "What is wrong with me?" he said. He did not raise his voice, but the coldness was tangible. "What is _wrong _with me? I'll tell you what is wrong with me. I go to a Valar forsaken forest with my best friend to try and find out what has been happening to elves that have been going missing – _my friends _that have been going missing. When I get there I find they have been betrayed by the one thing we elves nurture beyond all else – nature. Do you know how disconcerting that is? I am nearly three thousand years old. Imagine if you were that old, and you discovered that everything you have ever lived for is out to get you. How would you feel?"

Aragorn glared at the elf. "I, unlike you, wouldn't have so much trouble accepting a fact and moving on, instead of pouting over it like some tweenager!"

Legolas visibly winced, and it suddenly occurred to Aragorn that he might have actually hurt his feelings. "Legolas, I –" But Legolas simply brushed past him and walked back towards the men in the clearing.

Aragorn stood there for a few seconds, breathing deeply. When his temper became too much he let out a dwarven curse and kicked the nearest tree. Unsurprisingly, it didn't help.

What had he done? Legolas would never come with him now, he probably hated him. And that would only add to the elf's grief. In trying to get the elf to seek help, Aragorn had inadvertently cursed him to death.

He made his decision. He had been here a reasonable amount of time, long enough for Legolas' freshest anger to leave him. He would go back there, and no matter what, he would get that elf to Rivendell. Nothing else mattered.

The actual doing was harder. As brave as he tried to be, Aragorn could not help but think of what would happen should Legolas reject him. He knew what he planned on doing: grabbing Legolas by the hair and dragging him all the way, but the actual doing was so much harder. After a couple more minutes brooding, he took a deep breath and stood up, ready to confront the elf.

He walked the short distance back to camp, but what he saw was enough to make him want to run back and forget what he saw on the ground.

For what he saw on the ground was nothing. No men sleeping in, no bedrolls, no packs. Nobody stood around, lazily chatting. The only things left from their stay was the old wood from the fire that had been there last night and – oh Valar no – a bit of dirt that looked as though it had been kicked up viciously. Strewn around the camp, looking as though they had been thrown in various directions without much thought of the consequences, were two elven knives, a quiver of arrows, and a long elven bow.

Legolas was gone.

X X X X

**A/N**: Hm. What happened there? Review to find out!

Random bragfest: I am in a school where I do not speak the language, and yet I did manage to get an A on my history exam, when I have no prior knowledge of the country's history either. I just memorized my answers, lol!


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